Paper-clip.



No. 761,631. v PATENTED MAY 31, 1904;.

- R.GORTQN.

' PAPER cm.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.1, 1902.

no MODEL.

. UNITED STATES Patented May 31, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT GORTON, .OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ARTHUR F. KELLEY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

PAPER-CLIP. 1

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 761,631, dated May 31, 1904.

I Application filed December 1, 1902. Serial No. 183,353. (No model.)

.To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT GoRToN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetta'have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Clips, of" which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to paper-clips of the kind commonly used to attach sheets of paper together or to attach small pieces of paper, cardboard, coupons, checks, and the like to larger pieces of paper, such as lettersheets; and my object is to provide a clip of this class which, while being simple in construction, easily made, and requiring a small amount of material, may be easily applied and will securely hold and which shall have no projecting ends or points that will inter- I fere with its efficiency.

clip, where it is most needed.

In carrying out my invention I construct the clip of a single p1ece of wire of the size usually employed and havingthe usual amount of resiliency, and I so bend the wire as to form two members lying one within the other, the sidesof the members being so disposed as to provide a maximum amount of friction and gripping power, while the gripping action is largely concentrated. at the inner end of th In the preferred form the clip is triangular or V shape in outline, both the inner and outer members being of substantially the same, shape with their sides lying closeto each other. The top of the inner member formsthebase of the inner triangle, and the two ends of the wire are arrangedadjacent to the upper'end of theclip, by which arrangement the clip is given suificient capacity to receive several thicknesses of paper and the two members of the clip are held flat against thepaper, so as to present at all times their entire frictional contact surface. I The lower ends of the two members are curved abruptly and are separated a short distance from each other, and these ends are-so constructed as to give a secure pinch or grip that prevents the clip from slipping, while the inclined sides in addition to holding the members flat on the paper produce a friction which is not incident to a construction in which the sides are parallel.

While the clip as above described is the one I prefer, some features of my invention may be embodied in a clip of somewhat different form. Thus one side of the inner triangle instead of being continued toward the top of the clip may be formed into an eye at the lower end-thereof, in which case there would be some saving of material; but the clip would still he flat on the paper at all times and a larger amount of friction would be produced than in a clip where the sides of the members are parallel.

While I prefer that the sides of each mem- I ber should be straight and inclined relatively to the major axis of the clip, somewhat the same eflect may be produced by making the clip oval or O shape. In such an arrangement the sides would not be parallel, but

would be in a sense inclined to the major axis 7 vation of a clip similar to that shown in Fig.

1, but in which the construction of the inner member is somewhat modified. Fig. 3 shows a front elevation of a clip in which the members are oval or O shape instead of being triangular.

piece of wire of the usual size and having the usual amount ofresilicncy. The members a and b are of a general triangular or V shape and are formedby suitably bending the'wire to form the V-shape outer member a and the V-shape inner member I), the two members lying in the same plane and the ends of the wire both being at the upper or larger end of the clip. The bends or angles 1 and 4 are'preferably slightly curved, as shown, instead of being sharp; but these bends although curved are quite abrupt, .as I find that this formation i so The clip shown in Fig. 1 is madeof a single enables the clip to take a better hold on the is straight and arranged at right angles to the longitudinal or major axis of the clip and .is

adapted to lie close to and parallel with the edge of the paper to which the clip is applied, whereby the danger of the clips being knocked out of place is avoided, and as this top piece is relatively long and straight the clip is given a capacity to secure together a large number of sheets of paper or other similar articles.

The particular formation of the clip insures that the two members shall lie flat against the paper at all times. If the sides of the two members were parallel, there would be danger of the free ends of the Wire being somewhat bent toward the center of the clip, which would allow the members to tilt or rise from the paper at their lower ends, and thus remove from contact with the paper a large portion of the frictional surface. I have found that where the sides of the members are inclined relatively to the major axis of the clip and relatively to each other this tendency to tilt or to rise from the paper is entirely avoided. I find also that the inclined sides tend to hold the lower ends of the two members in close contact with the paper and to produce a pinching or gripping not incident to a clip in which the sides of the members are parallel. Another feature of the invention resides in the fact that when the clip is moved in a line parallel with its major axis the sides of the members slide on a larger surface of paper than in a clip where the sides are parallel. It will also be observed that the adjacent sides of the two members lie close to each other, so as to pinch the paper between them. If the sides were separated, the clip would not take so firm a hold on the paper and there would be more danger of the wires being bent if a twisting action were given to the clip.

,In Fig. 2 the construction is quite similar to that shown in Fig. 1; but instead of continuing the wire upwardly to form the second side of the inner member of the clip the wire is made somewhat shorter and is bent over to .form an eye 00. This construction I do not consider as good as that shown in Fig. 1, and yet it will be apparent that the clip shown in F'g. 2 possesses many of the advantages of the clip shown in Fig. 1. Someof the features shown in Fig. 2 may be applied to a clip in which the sides of the members are all parallel with each other, as by forming an eye suchas x the clip will be made to lie much flatter on the paper than in a construction of the kind where both wires of the inner member are parallel. It is important, howand one side of the inner member is formed with a loop or projection 0, which produces additional friction. It will be readily seen that by curving the sides of the members more friction will be produced when the clip is moved in adirection parallel with its major axis than in one where the sides are parallel. Broadly speaking, therefore, I consider the construction shown in Fig. 3 similar to that shown in Fig. 1, and when in the claims I I G- G speak of lnclined or diagonally-arranged sides I mean to include sides which are curved in the manner indicated in.Fig. 3, as these sides are, in fact, inclined relatively to the major axis of the clip.

-I claim as my invention 1. A paper-clip formed of a single piece of wire comprising two members arranged one within the other having sides inclined to each other and which lie close together in the same plane.

2. A paper-clip formed of asingle piece of wire comprising two members arranged one within the other, and having sides inclined to each other and arranged close together in the same plane, while the ends of the wire are disposed at the upper end of the clip.

8. A paper-clip formed of a single piece of wire comprising two members arranged one within the other, and which have sides inclined to each other and lying close together in the same plane, the converging sides of the innermember being joined by an abrupt bond, for the purpose specified.

4. A paper-clip formed of a single piece of wire comprising two members arranged one within the other normally disposed in the same plane and having sides inclined to each other throughout the length of the clip.

5. A paper-clip consisting of a single piece of wire bent to form two members normally disposed in the same plane one within the other, having a common base, and each of. which has its sides inclined relatively to each other both at the base and at the opposite end of the clip.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed. by name.

. ROBERT GOR'lON. IVitnesses:

A. E. GILBERT, Geo. B. GLIDDEN. 

